Mowing six foot tall brush...

[UUmom2many]

Can it be done? We bought land in February which was pretty much mowed. We visited back there today and were greeted with bushes as high as six feet tall. No patch is cleared without at least calf high grasses but most have the tall bush/shrubs.

How exactly do you mow this stuff down? And how do you get it to stay away?

We were hoping to get at least one conex container delivered by the end of the year but obviously can't with the landscape Is this something we'll have to do by hand?

[Bearfootfarm]

How exactly do you mow this stuff down? And how do you get it to stay away?

You just need a good "bush hog" and then keep it mowed.
You may have to go over it twice the first time

[dngrous]

I'd guess burning it... See if the local FD will help you clear it.

[FlatlinesUp]

I've done everything from push mower, 5' belly mower on my kubota, weedeater, scythe, and a gravely walk behind. If you mow over it, be careful as you can't see what's hidden, and it'll most likely leave patches of tall stuff, but you can come back an hit it again.

Instead of burning , I'd cut, then you can rake and use it for mulch, bedding, or start a compost with it. I always think I'm thowing away all that green gold when I don't rake it up lol

[BamaSpek]

I think it depends too on HOW MUCH land. A bush hog on the back of a tractor would probably be best if you have seen it (your land cleared)before ,and there was no large stumps and downed trees etc...Probably just scrub trees,ivy, brambles and such.

If it is over 1/2 acre I would not try by hand unless you have lots of time. Winter will thin if out and may be the best time to do the work as alot of the brush/tress may lose thier foilage in the winter.

I would say if it is a large area plan to get a tractor and brush hog or find a local person to come by and do the work until you get established and get equiptment..

If it is many acres with 1-3" trees and you need walking lanes and a perimeter for fencing then you may want a forestry mulcher to come in and cut everything to mulch and throw winter grass down. They have gone down in price per hour and are probably pretty reasonable in most areas. .

Congrats on the land!

[UUmom2many]

Thanks all! I'm open to more suggestions/experience so keep it comin'!

It's 5+ acres, about 1.5 is wooded that we'd not clear. Waiting for winter would be something to think about but we're also in Florida so I'm not sure how much will reduce. I guess we'll find out in a few months! It's still in the 90's most days here.

We live about 3 hours away from it now so i'm not sure how well keeping it mowed is going to work. I don't want to do it and get the container and come back to have to dig it out from the brush again in a few months time. Getting up there with 5 little ones is a bit daunting.

[Old Vet]

Find a farmer with a tractor and bush hog and get him to mow it. After that you may want to have him come back before summer to mow it again. I do this for a neighbor. I cut his then come back and do it again during the summer and again during the fall. That keeps the brush from taking over.

[rambler]

4 acres?

Brush hog on a tractor.

Typically mowing it 2x a year controls it to managable, once a month during the growing season keeps it pretty nice if you prefer nice over managable. Just like a lawn that needs to be mowed & maintained, any land you want to remain smooth you need to do the same - maintain it. No surprise there.

There are other options, but this is the easiest if you just want it maintained.

If you want it hired done by a neighbor, don't expect it to be near free cost. Tractors & mowers cost money to run, and the liability & 'hidden treasures) of rocks & debris on your property take their toll on machinery.

If you have slow growing grass, and this stuff that is growing is broadleaf weeds and shrubs, it could be sprayed to control/ eliminate the brushy weeds, and encourage the grass to grow. This would make a more grassy place that might not need as much attention.

But in any event, if you want to keep control of it something will need to 'harvest' it 2 times or so per year. Livestock, neighbor baling it for hay (if it were all grass, you could make a few bucks on this possibly), or brush hogging it with a tractor.

--->Paul

[NCLee]

Agree that about twice a year with a bushhog will keep it managable until you get on the land and can decide where what will be. After that, you can let some portions revert back to nature on their own, or plant selected fruit, nut, hardwood trees, if you don't plan on having pasture or row crops. If you're planning on having goats, again letting it revert back to nature will give food for the goats. Cattle require good grazing, but goats actually don't like to graze if there's other food sources available.

Actually, if you've already planned where things will go, including you gardens and orchard, that may be all that's needed to have bush hogged. Unless you are planning to pasture cattle or sell hay. There's nothing wrong with having more woods on your property. Privacy, storm protection/wind breaks, wildlife habitat, shade, are all worth considering, IMHO. It'll take a few years for it to grow out of its unkept look, but I wouldn't let that worry me. Instead I'd be thinking about how much less upkeep I'd have to do when my bones get creaky with old age.

Unless it is for hay or cattle grazing, do you really want to keep all that land mowed for years to come? Especially when gas is over $4 a gallon again.

Just food for thought.
Lee

[Tricky Grama]

We have 20 ac & about 1/2 is wooded & can't get the tractor/bush hog in there.
Bought a used DR mower & it's worth it's weight in gold. Well just about. It will take down all the green briar and saplings nearly 3" in diameter.

Patty

[okiemom]

Another option when you are there full times is goats. They do more in 6 mos than most tractors.

[UUmom2many]

I found someone that will do it for about $175 with a tractor/bush hog. I think initially we want to have it all cut down so we can see where the low lying areas are and plot out where things will go. plus 6' high brush makes great natural privacy fencing LOL actually there's no one up there still. a little disappointing but very nice too.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by UUmom2many

I found someone that will do it for about $175 with a tractor/bush hog. I think initially we want to have it all cut down so we can see where the low lying areas are and plot out where things will go. plus 6' high brush makes great natural privacy fencing LOL actually there's no one up there still. a little disappointing but very nice too.

That is a good price. Next time he may do it for less because the brush will be not their.

[Bearfootfarm]

If you can get in and heavily plant rye (grain, not ryegrass) just after he mows, it may help keep some of the brush and weeds from growing back

[ronbre]

for thinner stuff we use a d r trimmer for the heavier stuff we pull a brushhog behind the tractor..and lower it down on the brush to get it going..it will take down alder trees...the dr trimmer also has a beaver blade that will cut trees

[Shrek]

My two acre home terrace has 5 to 6 foot tall brush on the lower terrace. I use a big rear wheel self propelled walk behind Troy bilt mower to bush mow it once a year.

I wheelie jump it into the weeds to knock them down in a 20 by 20 plot and then using a lawn broom rake, pack it into an old cooler to compress bale it for putting into a compost row to raise worms in eventually. The occasional woody shrub, I chop out with a small double bit ax, lop up with shears and use as anchor base for the compost hay bales and then pour round up on the stump thats left.

I can bush mow a plot, hand rake bale and stack 5 to 6 bales in about 3 hours. Once its down I can choose to expand my lawn cut area or let it go wild growth again for the next year as I move onto other 20 by 20 foot plots of brush on the lower terrace.

A $400 belt driven self propelled mower will last me for 3 to 5 years bush mowing and lawn mowing my acreage with normal maintenance before the wheels are falling off. During the lifespan of the mower I produce bait compost and topsoil worth more than I paid for the mower and I use the old mower as parts to combine with other junker mowers to make a back up mower in case I sling a belt off my main mower in the middle of brushwacking and baling or to sell for pocket change or to offset the cost of the 26 gallons of mowing gas I buy a year for the walk behind mower.

[UUmom2many]

Got another quote for $30 per tractor hour, not sure what that means exactly...

I think we'll be renting an RV in the next few months or maybe the begining of the year and meet someone out there to do it. We need to measure/plot after it's done and it's a 3 hr drive up which is hard with the 5 little ones. they get really antsy and after it's mowed we can let them off the leash.

We're not going to be able to buy anything for ourselves until after we get there which will probably be a few years.

You can see better photos of the property here...www.fiveacreproject.blogspot.com

I'm in love with the way it looks now.

[Tricky Grama]

Loved the pics. Not too wooded so a tractor w/bush hog would do fine, I think.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by UUmom2many

Got another quote for $30 per tractor hour, not sure what that means exactly...

Tractors have an hour meter on them, instead of recording miles traveled like a car, they record how many hours they run. But they are assuming that the tractor runs at about 75% or so of it's max speed.

If the tractor is idling slowly, the 'hour meter' is running a lot slower than an hour. If the tractor is running full throttle, it will be turning faster than an hour.

So, if he says 3 tractor hours were used, and was driving mostly full throttle, he might have only been mowing 2.5 or so hours.

It is a simple way to bill how much work is done, but just be aware the 'tractor hours' don't always match up to real clock hours, depending on how hard the tractor we working.

$30 an hour seems pretty cheap to me.

--->Paul

[Tricky Grama]

B/4 we bought our used tractor & bush hog-back in fall '03, we paid $80 to mow 10 ac.